


everyone deserves a second chance

by raqnarokloki



Category: British Actor RPF, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Actor Tom Hiddleston, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Loki (Marvel), Character Death, Crying Loki (Marvel), Dad Tom Hiddleston, Good Loki (Marvel), Gore, HE DESERVES THE WHOLE WORLD, How Do I Tag, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Like father like son, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Protective Loki (Marvel), Thor is a Good Bro (Marvel), Thor is an asshole, Tom Hiddleston Is A Sweetheart, Unspecified Setting, freyja doesn't even acknowledge loki, fuck odin, like odin, oh and lots of playing and fluff with bobby, oh i almost forgot, sleipnir is innocent and adorable, sleipnir ships it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:54:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raqnarokloki/pseuds/raqnarokloki
Summary: after the wall of asgard incident and after gifting his own son to odin for a chance to prove himself, nothing changes. still treated as the traitor and seen as the evil and bad guy, loki has had enough. taking his son and running away, sleipnir accidentally transports them to a whole other universe. determind to go back and hide, loki thinks, maybe it won’t be so bad to stay upon meeting a sweet mortal from midgard that shares his face.[using some norse mythology references, so it might not be 100% correct! apologies hehe]
Relationships: Loki & Loki's Children (Marvel), Loki/Sigyn (Norse Religion & Lore), Tom Hiddleston & Loki, Tom Hiddleston & Loki’s Children, Tom Hiddleston/Loki, past relationship tho
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first story on ao3 and in this fandom! please be nice :) 
> 
> i have my own imagination of how reality and the fabric of universe works, it’s mentioned, too, but if you want to, then you can imagine it based on your imagination! :)
> 
> also, any hate in comments about the ship will be deleted! please be nice or don’t comment at all.
> 
> ps. some gore mentioned, about two of loki’s children. i don’t want to spoil it, but be careful please!
> 
> enjoy <3
> 
> -aurora x

loki really doesn’t know what he could have expected, especially from odin.

all he wanted was to prove himself and _help_ asgard. he really did. 

it was a strict rule not to break your words or oath, and the gods had promised to give freyja, the sun and the moon as payment if the frost giant builds the walls of asgard in one winter. and then loki had proposed that he was allowed to use his stallion, the large and strong horse, svadilfari. no one had objected then.

and it was all working just fine. the giant had a few more days until winter comes to an end and he was almost done building the walls.

but the gods were greedy enough. they didn’t want to give up the goddess freyja to some giant, and so they then blamed loki. they threatened him with a death penalty if he didn’t fix his ‘mess’. and-

_really?_

he was struggling.

in his panic, he had agreed and the next night, had transformed himself to a mare, gone into the forest and seduced svadilfari, which resulted in the stallion breaking free of his bonds and chasing loki while the giant screamed and thrashed.

later, loki had learned that the gods has called upon thor, who was away at east killing trolls at the time, and telling the thunderer of the giant. the brute god had immediately arrived, and smashed the giant’s head with mjölnir.

months later, loki returned to asgard carrying a new-born in his arms. he was so tired; broken, bloody and beaten. dark bags were under his eyes and his hair was a disheveled mess. he didn’t look very graceful, but _still_ , he offered his son - sleipnir, an eight-legged horse with the ability to shape-shift and travel using the bifröst without _actually_ having to go to heimdall and ask for permission to pass, and one to become a very strong horse (he truly was on of his kind, loki marveled) - to odin.

years later, he was still treated like he usually was before the incident. a trickster that is frowned upon and despised, a traitor to asgard and seeker of chaos and fire. he was called names, called him argr and even once (or many, loki lost count) thor mentioned how ergi of him it is for practicing seiðr. it hurt. and loki was emotionally, mentally and _physically_ tired. 

and then the cave incident happened.

loki had screamed and thrashed and _begged_ , tears running down his face like a faucet, but the aesir were unforgiving and cruel. the two innocent kids, one turned to a wolf and loki was forced to watch as he ate the other. he tried turning his face, but the sounds haunted him, the look of fear and cry for help. 

and then after murdering his other son, they had the _guts_ to tie him to a rock using his son’s _intestines_. loki had gagged, and then they were forcing his head up as they fixed a snake right above his eye to drop venom into his eyes.

sigyn was there, holding up a bowl above his eye to keep venom out of his eye. they grieved together, loki constantly apologising as he cried. she had calmed him, and told him it wasn’t his fault. loki didn’t believe it for one second. 

but then loki thought about it. _odin_ was allowed at that time to murder the giant, ymir, and get away with it? to declare himself king when he had _no_ right. how dare he, loki thought angrily. 

and they thought that he’ll stay put until ragnarök was upon them. fools! all of them! loki, with all the rage and anger mustered and the need itching at his insides for _revenge_ , broke free of his ‘chains’. he wouldn’t wait here until ragnarök. he would leave it all to them, to _prove_ that his children were not monsters. no, he would take them away and leave asgard. asgard be damned when it fell.

he told sigyn of his plans, and how he and his children were posing a threat to her. they couldn’t be together anymore, no, it will only danger her more if she stayed with him, and he couldn’t allow that.

she deserved better than him.

he had waited in the cave as she quickly and secretly brought clothing for him, nothing too fancy, all simple and a cloak to hide himself. he had hugged her, for the last time, bid her goodbye and started his way down the cave.

it was dead at night when he reached the stables of asgard, and sneaking past guards was too easy for him. as quietly as he could manage, he looked from one horse to the other, searching for his son. he took off the cloak in hopes that his son would recognise him and alert him to where he was located, and it actually did the trick.

he heard a small whine from a horse to his left, and he turned his head and headed there. taking a turn, he located his son, locked in his own stable at the far end alone, as the king’s property.

no, loki had thought bitterly, not from today, not anymore.

he ran quietly to sleipnir, while the horse whined low and long, and loki wrapped his scarred arms around the horse’s neck. he tried blinking tears away as he tightened his arm, but upon feeling the form shifting beneath his arms, loki had to sit down to reach his son and take him tightly into his arms properly, and started sobbing.

the little boy wrapped his small arms around loki’s neck, and loki only cried harder, whispering words of apologies, because he had never been more sorry to anyone or anything ever in his long life.

sleipnir then pulled away from loki, giving the mage a chance to see his son for the first time since he offered him to odin. even in the dark, the moonlight was enough for loki to see his son’s features. lightly tanned skin, dark brown hair, green eyes and freckled cheekbones. his lips were the same as loki’s too, think and pink. sleipnir smiled as he tucked a strand of black hair behind his mother’s ear, leaned in to kiss his cheek and whispered, “i missed you dearly, mother. i wondered when you would visit,” he pouted, emerald eyes shining in the moonlight.

another sob tore from loki’s throat, his mouth opening and closing a few times before shaking his head and replied, “oh, my boy, i am so sorry, i’m sorry- i- i was stupid, but i’m here now, and you won’t have to stay away from me anymore, i’ll be there,” he whispered as his fingers lightly trailed the side of sleipnir’s face.

the boy grinned, all white perfect set of teeth glowing from the moonlight, and threw himself at loki again, and the mage could only whimper as he hugged back. what was he thinking, giving up his little boy to that old, rusty man when he could have a future away from asgard and it’s people. 

after a while, loki pulled away, wiping his cheeks with the palms of his hands and then gripping sleipnir’s arms in a firm yet soft grip, “listen to me now, darling. we can’t stay here any longer, we need to go, but you have to listen to every word i say and stick besides me, okay?”

sleipnir frowned, “why? what happened, mother? are there bad guys after you?”

loki flinched, “yes. yes there is, and they’ll be here anytime soon, so we need to take our leave now, alright?”

sleipnir nodded, and loki got up, taking his son in his arms and settling the boy on his hips, wore the cloak again and hid the boy’s face into his neck, quietly making his way out, hoping to reach asgard’s borders in silence.

but luck did not seem on loki’s side tonight.

“thou! desist!” a guard shouted from behind, and loki closed his eyes and cursed.

holding a hand to keep sleipnir into his neck, loki took deep breath and turned around. when sleipnir whimpered, loki shushed him, “worry not, my boy, everything will be alright,” he kissed his head and glared at the guard from under his cloak. he couldn’t risk revealing his identity yet.

three guards pointed their spears at them, and loki grit his teeth, praying for strength to not lash right away.

“identify thyself!” the guard in the middle commanded, and repeated his statement again when loki didn’t reply.

when loki didn’t give his answer again, the guards took a step forward and the commander threatened him. sleipnir sensed this, and whispered against his father’s neck, “mother?”

“yes?”

“do you trust me?” it was muffled, but loki heard him just fine.

“yes, of course. why?”

“then do not waste the time,” and before loki has time to ask what did he mean, the form in his arms shifted until it was heavy for loki to carry and sleipnir had cried out in his horse form, probably to scare off the guards because, norns, the boy truly was magnificent like this. young, yes, but intimidating.

when sleipnir kicked his hooves in the dirt and neighed again, loki realised it was directed at him while he was lost in his son’s marvelous form. loki quickly climbed onto the back, put a cloaking spell on them to shield them from heimdall and odin’s gazes, and sleipnir took off running, sounds of more guards and horses coming into the background.

he was _fast_ for his age. truly one of a kind, loki smiled faintly as sleipnir dashed through the forest. loki rubbed the side of his neck, “good boy,” he encouraged. sleipnir only took them away even faster.

loki guided him to one of the secret passages only he knew, and soon enough they were in a cave that stretched well into the deep that would scare anyone, but loki had only told him to advance faster there and use his ability to travel using the bifröst when the time comes, according to loki, he will know 'when will the cue be for him.'

as sleipnir ran in, it became more dark and soon moonlight couldn't reach them, the ground more rockier. sleipnir summoned the bifröst then, and dashed through the portal it created, his hooves hitting the rainbow brige which was much smoother than the ground they were running on, but, unfortunately, his left hind limb had stumbled upon a rock which caused them to get off their track.

the portal closed behind them, and they fell into space.

————————————————

in his panic, _fortunately though_ , sleipnir changed back to his other form and clinged to loki. loki held the scared boy to him, whispering words of comfort and how good he was and how he impressed loki, and promised him that they’ll make it out alive, together.

loki really had no destination in mind, per se, but he looked around frantically. the other realms were long out of reach, and soon enough loki felt the fabric of reality parting way to throw the out and into endless void.

loki tried to keep it under control, hiding sleipnir away from the view, but when he looked up, something clicked.

 _their_ reality.

that meant-

loki turned around and-

there, a few kilometres away, was another universe. and loki was astonished by it. it didn’t have a yggdrasil from where he can see it.

flying towards it, the universe’s reality fabric parted way and welcomed him in it. loki looked around, and yes, truly astonishing. no yggdrasil, no asgard, not any of the other realms except midgard and it’s solar system. depending on itself alone without the world tree. 

loki didn’t know much about midgard, he was...busy. but the colorful planet was pretty, although he disliked the mortals. they were petty and pathetic, short life span and think high of themselves. loki didn’t even know where he was going as he headed towards it (it was his only option, unless he would stay on another planet without water, food or shelter). 

“we’re almost there, darling.” he assured sleipnir, combing his fingers through his hair. upon entering the atmosphere, loki had no control of their speed. so, he held his son close to him, shielding him from the impact soon to come, and braced himself to take all of the fall on his battered body.

loki closed his eyes, tightening his hold, and then..

 _THUD_.

norns, that was painful. very painful. loki felt all the wind knock out of him, and struggled to gasp for air. old and new fresh wounds re-opened, burning against his dirty tunic and cloak. the impact on his head immediately made him feel dizzy, he could hear the blood rushing in his ears, and loki later realised that he was _bleeding_ , slowly losing conscious as the edges of his vision swam in black.

loki was terrified. he didn’t know where they were, and blacking out now with his very young son left alone, no, loki had to do something. but any movement resulted in pain shooting up his body and his head swimming.

“mother?” sleipnir called out, but it sounded distant. the sound of someone approaching unnerved loki, he tried moving again but he felt glued to the ground.

“hey, what is- oh. oh my god,” the mortal breathed.

“please help us, kind sir!” sleipnir cried out, and loki would have smiled at the boy’s morals if he could. loki’s head lolled to the side, his eyes drooping.

“it’s okay, it’s okay. don’t worry. i’ll take care of him,” the mortal reassured, and loki was comforted that he was kind enough to help. feeling another presence kneel beside him, loki’s eyes gave up fighting to stay awake, so instead he closed them, only assured and hoping that the mortal would look after sleipnir while he was unconscious.


	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> loki wakes up
> 
> ps. edited tags!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is a bit longer :)
> 
> unbeta-ed, sorry in advance for any errors hehe
> 
> -aurora x

loki slowly blinked his eyes open. the first thing he felt was a headache, nothing too bad or something he couldn’t handle. 

he groaned, slowly lifting his arm to rub at his eyes. he then placed his palm in his eyes to block the light in the room. it hurt his skull-

 _room_.

he was in a _room_.

panic settled deep in him, his breath hitched and he quickly sat up, not giving a thought to his dizzy head.

where was sleipnir.

“hey, hey! it’s okay, calm down, you’re okay,” a smooth voice comforted, placing one hand on his shoulder to lay him back on the..bed.

loki then remembered falling through space and time, running away with sleipnir and falling to a strange version of midgard. he remembers landing harshly on ground and a mortal reassuring that he’ll take care of him.

loki looked around the room, then to the mortal attending to him.

oh.

_oh_

loki frowned. who was this mortal?

he was the exact replica of loki, save for a few differences. brown hair, lighter than sleipnir’s by very obvious degrees, and it was short and styled while loki’s hair was long and black. the mortal had dazzling blue eyes, unlike loki, but high cheekbones like his and sleipnir’s. 

the skin tone was tanned, not pale like loki’s but an even lighter tan then sleipnir, and his form was small and thin but well built, not muscly but just perfect like loki’s lithe form.

well.. not lithe anymore, he thought. he was much more thinner and bruised, but it isn’t his main worry now.

“who are you?” loki asked, and noted how his voice sounded hoarse.

“are you sure it’s the respectful time to ask this?” the mortal grinned. 

well then, wasn’t he a sassy, smart one. 

loki refused to show him what he thought of him, instead raised an eyebrow.

the mortal smiled then, and replied, “i’m thomas hiddleston, or, just tom for short. i’m an actor.” he introduced. 

when loki stayed quiet, tom figured out something, “you don’t know what an actor is, do you?”

at loki’s slow shake of head, the mortal laughed softly. he had a beautiful laugh and a pretty smile, loki decided. 

_what?_

“well, if it makes it easier for you, i ‘play’ roles in movies. or films. or tv shows- you don’t get it,” the mortal flushed, hiding his face in both hands. loki smirked.

“i’ll tell you all about them. if you want of course. that is, if you decide to stay here either. i don’t mind, the- alright i’ll stop,” the mortal flushed even deeper at loki’s eye roll. he was starting to like this mortal. at making him flustered, of course.

“why do you look like me?” he croaked.

tom looked back up at him, “well, i don’t look _exactly_ , but close enough. and, ah, well, i don’t suppose i have an answer to satisfy that question but i’m guessing because..” he trailed off, his cheeks flushing even a deeper red as he looked away. 

“because?”

“well, i ‘play’ _you_ , in said movies. i’m sorry, oh god, that sounded creepy,” the mortal shook his head, face palming. loki only found it intriguing, he was looking forward to know what he meant.

“but.. how do you not know all of this? i thought-” the mortal’s eyes suddenly widened. 

“oh. you’re not the loki from the movies, are you? the loki from the movies never interacted with his sons,” the mortal asked in astonishment. loki was confused. 

movies? him? _never_ interacting with his sons?

“what do you mean?” loki asked. 

“i think you’ll have to see the movies for yourself,” thomas smiled softly. loki only frowned deeper.

“where do you come from then, if not from the films,” thomas looked at loki thoughtfully. and then his eyes widened suddenly again, “surely not from the comics. does that mean.. my god, you’re from the norse myths!”

the mortal was grinning so wide loki almost felt the hurt of his cheeks. he flinched at the sudden outburst, and frowned again. what is this mortal _saying_? _myths_? he was very much real, thank you very much.

“myths? as far as i am concerned, i exist,” he raised an eyebrow. thomas deflated slightly, and replied, “not here, you aren’t. you’re just.. a myth and a character,” thomas looked away, and loki knew he was hiding something. before he had the chance to ask, thomas spoke.

“oh! you’re probably wondering where’s sleipnir. the boy is really intelligent and adorable,” thomas grinned as he stood up from where he was seated on the edge of the bed. “i’ll go and fetch him for you, don’t move!” he called out as he left the room and loki alone.

loki frowned and narrowed his eyes. he didn’t know what to make of this mortal. he was torn away from his thoughts upon hearing multiple footsteps steps running and a “mother!” as sleipnir dashed through the door and all but jumped into loki’s arms. 

loki hugged back tightly, sitting up straight to pull sleipnir onto his lap. he kissed the boy’s head, forhead, nose, cheeks, everything he could reach while sleipnir giggled. 

“are you hurt? did something happen to you?” loki checked for any wound, but found none. 

“i’m fine, mother! sir thomas took good care of me!” he pointed at thomas who stood leaning at the doorway. loki nodded in thanks, and then the sound of barking made loki tense up and pull sleipnir tightly against him.

a brown creature ran in, towards the bed then back to thomas’ feet, repeating the path.

“it’s okay, mother. it’s just bobby, sir thomas’ dog!” the boy grinned, squirming away from loki’s hold and kneeling down as the dog ran to sleipnir and rubbed it’s head against sleipnir’s open palms, who then scratched the dog behind it’s ears. 

“i’ve never seen someone become best friends with a dog this quickly just upon meeting them, especially not since three days ago,” loki looked up to see thomas looking at his son and dog fondly. 

three days?

“i was passed out for three days?”

“yeah. your wounds were pretty nasty, but i took care of everything as best as i could. and i had my eyes on sleipnir for you,” he offered a smile. loki stared at him for a moment before shaking his head, looking down and nodding. 

“thank you,” he whispered. what is happening to him? he could feel thomas’ warm smile all the way here. 

“i’ll take bobby and leave you for some private time with your son. if you’re able to move around, there’s a bathroom right over there,” he pointed to the right where a brown door was closed, “and lunch will be ready anytime now. i can bring it up here for you if you want or if you aren’t able to move around much.”

loki nodded again, receiving another smile in return before thomas was calling for bobby and the pair left when the dog happily ran to it’s owner.

when the door closed behind the mortal, sleipnir jumped up on the bed again besides loki, cuddlijg his mother and wrapping his arms around loki’s chest. the mage rubbed his son’s back, showering him in kisses wherever he could reach. 

the silence stretched on for a while before sleipnir was speaking, “i do not understand why the all-father always spoke ill of them, mother.” 

“spoke ill of who, darling?”

“the mortals. they are very kind and polite. at least sir thomas is. i already like him too much,” the young boy mumbled.

loki sighed. “you cannot get attached to him, dearest. you know we cannot stay here for long.” 

at that sleipnir pulled away, his eyes glassy and pouting, “what do you mean, mother? i do not want to leave! i like it here, much more than asgard! please, mother!” his bottom lip wobbled and loki’s heart ached.

sighing again, he took his son’s face in both palms, closing his eyes to press his lips to his dark brown hair, lingering for a moment before pulling away to look into sleipnir’s eyes.

“we will not go back to asgard, rest assured, but we cannot stay here either,” he combed his fingers through soft hairs, “we will only cause nuisance to the good sir, and we cannot let that happen. it will be better if we left as soon as possible.” 

good sir? since when did he speak of mortals good?

sleipnir then sniffed, leaned down and hid his face into loki’s chest, “i do not want to leave, mother,” he whimpered.

“just, do enjoy the time while it lasts. we cannot risk this, sleipnir, i am sorry.” he kissed his head again, feeling sleipnir tighten his arms around his chest and snuggle in further.

——————————————

loki had gotten up carefully and taken a shower, but not before checking himself in the mirror. he had looked horrid. black bags under eyes, cuts and bruises littering his body, all old and new. and loki ought to take that shower, he smelled unpleasant. he’d rather not talk about the source of smell.

(he even wondered how the mortal had even allowed him to enter with his foul smell.)

but with the bandages wrapping around his body, loki didn’t what to do. there were too many of them, and he was not sure if he could put them back, or heal himself. his energy was drained out of him and he’d need at least a week or two of rest to restore back his energy. 

taking off the bandages, loki stripped of the comfortable clothes the mortal put him into, and stepped into the shower, adjusting the temperature to something more cold than warm.

after he was done and was biting his lips to contain any noise that attempted to escape from the pain shooting in his wounds where water and soap touched it (loki had a hard time figuring out what is what and what are they used for) and dried himself with a towel left on the closed lid of the toilet seat, and then wore a pair of black leather pants and a loose green tunic.

loki winced at the stings of his wounds whenever he shifted, resulting in the fabric of his clothes brushing open cuts. he carefully made his way back to the room, supporting himself on walls and furniture. he didn’t see sleipnir anywhere when he re-entered the room, which made his throat tighten.

he made his way to the door, leaning on the doorframe and wall and looked out to see a hall. he walked out and into the hall, taking a left to see a set of stairs. he was feeling lightheaded, but loki ignored it in favour of making his way down. when he reached the bottom, he could feel something warm trickle his sides, back and front. he swayed, his vision momentarily going black.

“hey, are you okay?” he heard the mortal ask, who suddenly appeared beside him. loki nodded, but he felt like he wasn’t here at all. loki opened his eyes (when had he closed them?) and looked to his right to see the mortal supporting him by holding his right arm.

“where is sleipnir?” 

“don’t worry, he’s playing around the house with bobby. he’s fine,” he gave a reassuring smile. loki nodded, and swayed again when his vision went black again for a while longer than last. 

“i think you need to lay down,” the mortal said, supporting loki by wrapping an arm around his waist and the other which was holding his arm brought around the back of his neck.

the mortal had accidentally touched loki’s bare side where the fabric of his clothes were ruffled, and quickly pulled his hand back. the mortal then pulled his hand away from his body, and brought it up to inspect when he felt something warm.

“oh, shit, you’re bleeding,” the mortal cussed. he wrapped his arm back around loki’s waist again and walked them to the couch in the living room, laying the bloody mage on the comfortable pillows. “i’ll be right back,” he promised before dashing off somewhere.

a moment later he returned with a pair of scissors and wrapping bandage, a bottle of something loki couldn’t figure out and cotton.

he moved loki’s legs so he could situate himself while he worked, asking loki politely to take off his tunic so he could work. after helping loki take it off, the mortal breathed. 

“jesus...” 

the mortal got up again, dashed to the kitched and came back with a bowl and a wet cloth. setting the bowl which contained water on the coffee table beside them, the mortal started wiping the blood that poured out of wounds steadily. 

by the time he was finished cleaning off blood as best as he could, the bowl of water turned a dark shade of red. the mortal then grabbed the bottle which contained clear liquid and a patch of cotton, pouring the liquid which had a strong smell that made loki feel dizzy again, and brought the wet cotton on his body, cleaning the blood spots that dried and didn’t come off easily with water. the liquid was colder than the water, but it gave loki a sense of comfort, for some reason, making him feel more awake.

“this is going to sting, but i have to do it so your wounds wouldn’t get infected. my apologies in advance,” tom grimaced, giving loki an apologetic look. he quickly rubbed the new patch of cotton with alcohol against a large cut before loki could ask questions, which resulted in loki flinching away and yelping loudly in pain.

“what was that?” loki tried glaring.

“i’m sorry! but i have to do it for your sake. i’ll try to be quick, i promise.”

loki sighed after staring for a few seconds, turning his head away from the mortal and biting the inside of his cheeks. upon feeling the sting again, loki twitched and harshly bit the tip of tongue, trying to hold in any noises as the mortal cleaned his wounds. 

after a while, in which loki had to turn this and that side and on his stomach so the mortal could clean his wounds on his back, it was over. the mortal had apologised every time he saw loki flinch or let a tiny whimper, and carefully and gently started wrapping bandages around all the wounds. 

when the mortal was finsihed, he got up, clapping his hands together, “you’re good to go, now, but i’d suggest if you didn’t move around unnecessarily. i’ll bring your food here,” he informed sheepishly.

“you did not inform me you were a healer, but an actor?” loki raised an eyebrow.

“well, ah, it’s something almost everyone learn while growing up. this is nothing, really, doctors could have done better but i do not think you were in any shape to leave the house, plus.. we can’t really go outside at the same time, at least not you.”

loki remembered then it was because of their similarities, “and people would stare?” 

“well, of course yes,”

loki rolled his eyes, “you mortals never keep out of other’s business, do you?”

“actually, i think you’ve got it all wrong. it’s because of my job it’s making it difficult, nothing else.” the mortal shrugged before turning away, cleaning uo all the cotton and medication and taking them away to the kitchen.

loki furrowed his brows. did the mortal get offended?

 _hel, why do i care if he did or did not?_

the mortal then returned to where loki laid down, offering a tray to him. he waited patiently for loki as the mage slowly sat up, taking the offered tray and settling it on his lap.

“would you like me to call sleipnir?”

loki nodded without looking at the mortal.

he heard footsteps step out of the living room again, and then the faint call of the mortal calling sleipnir in. the young boy rushed in with a wide grin on his face, settling carefully besides loki. loki hugged him close, watching as the dog cane barking in after with enthusiasm. the mortal returned with another smaller tray for sleipnir putting it on the coffee table. sleipnir immediately sat uo straight and leaned over, taking a spoonful of soup into his mouth. 

“anything else?”

when sleipnir didn’t hear his mother respond, only shaking his head in response, he replied for them both, “no, thank you, sir thomas!” he gave him a small toothy smile. thomas smiled at him, ruffling his hair before taking bobby and leaving, entering the kitchen.

sleipnir turned back to his mother, eyebrows furrowed when he saw his father staring at his bowl, lost in though. “mother?”

loki blinked, and looked up to sleipnir. he gave him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “eat now,” he nodded his head to sleipnir’s tray. the boy didn’t comment, but instead turned back to his food.

they were done a few minutes later, and loki got up with both trays, going into the kitchen with sleipnir behind him. he did not find the mortal anywhere, but when he looked to his right where a french door was looking at a garden, he saw the mortal kneeling down and feeding his dog. sleipnir ran outside quickly upon noticing. 

loki was putting everything in the sink and started to wash where he and his ate (he might have been a prince and didn’t have to do any of this work once in his roual life, but it did not mean he didn’t know what to do if it came to washing after himself) and listened to the conversation going from outside. 

“can i try feeding him?”

“of course. here let me show you what to do,” 

loki looked up to see the mortal handing sleipnir something, and then instructing him to open his palm with whatever sleipnir has hold of, and bobby had happily accepted whatever it is on sleipnir’s hand into it’s mouth.

loki was soon done, and stepped out into the garden. upon noticing him, the mortal turned back to sleipnir with a smile, “alright, i think you can handle it from here onwards. i’ll have to go now have my lunch and finish my work, alright?” 

sleipnir nodded with a smile, his eyes glinting. thomas got up, ruffled his hair again and walked past loki without sparring a word or look at his direction, making his way into his living quarters. 

loki sighed, turning to look at sleipnir feeding the dog. he noticed a chair on the porch of the garden, and made himself comfortable, keeping eyes on sleipnir playing and laughing out loud when the dog chased him with it’s tongue out.

——————————————

night arrived and found sleipnir sleeping against loki’s side. they had retired to their rooms about an hour and a half ago, but loki couldn’t sleep. something was bugging at him, and he tried everything to calm him down. 

it certainly did feel odd, laying on a soft, comfortable bed for the first time in months where he had been used to laying on a rock. everything felt weird. and loki was unnerved, he didn’t know if it was a good weird or a bad weird. he didn’t know anything anymore. 

he tried to sleep thinking about sigyn, but that only drove sleep further away. _what_ happened to sigyn after he left? was she safer now? is she more comfortable without her troublesome husband beside her? loki knew he loved her and she loved him back, but perhaps she is enjoying the time with loki away. 

twenty minutes passed and still he couldn’t sleep. he slowly disentangled sleipnir’s arms from around him, getting up and closing the door behind him.

loki quietly made his way downstairs and out into the garden. the fresh cool air made him feel lighter, and he inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, and breathed out slowly. he opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, where countless of stars were shining. he wondered if one of them is his universe. this version of midgard was definitely different than the version of midgard in his universe. it felt empty and void yet there were millions and billions of inhabitants here. it felt empty of magic.

which, is true, because midgard in his universe did not have magic and that made him uneasy, too.

but _this_ version of midgard, without yggdrasil or any other realm, loki was _scared_ of it. how could a realm survive without the life tree? 

loki heard a noise from behind him and tensed, but slightly relaxed when it was the mortal.

“couldn’t sleep?”

“i thought it obvious.”

the mortal didn’t reply, but instead walked and stood beside loki, looking up at the stars too. the silence between them wasn’t tense, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable either. 

“how did you know i was not in the room?” loki asked without looking to the mortal. 

“i heard your footsteps and the click of the door. you’re not as sneaky as you think yourself are, at least, not to me,” thomas replied, also not looking at loki.

loki scoffed at his reply. he stayed quiet for a moment before asking, “why are _you_ still awake?”

“same issue. couldn’t sleep.”

“why?”

thomas stayed silent for a moment before replying, quietly, “it has been long since i had company over,” he looked down to the grass, before continuing, intending to go for a joke, “plus, it’s not everyday that i have a norse god with his son over, is it?” he grinned hopefully as he looked at loki. the mage looked back, and his breath caught in his throat. the mortal was beautiful. perfect set of white teeth, a pretty, soft grin, long hair that reached the end of his neck, and his blue eyes that seemed grey in the moonlight. 

he was breathtaking. 

loki forced his thoughts to shut up, because, _what_ is he thinking? 

“why do you not have company over?”

the mortal blinked at that, “well, my relationships haven’t been working at the moment, why do you ask?”

“you’re not bad looking, what woman would leave you for whatever reason it is?” 

and, norns, loki hadn’t meant to say that but it was _so_ worth it to watch the light blush on the mortal’s cheeks.

the mortal looked anywhere but at loki, “not everything lasts forever,” 

loki assumed he had a point. “but you didn’t just compliment me, did you?” the mortal looked at him with a cheeky grin. 

loki rolled his eyes, “slip of the tongue,” he _did_ lie. the mortal laughed, and it was also the most beautiful sound loki had heard. he looked at the mortal, who’s tongue was poking out of his teeth while his shoulders shook with laughter. something made loki’s throat tighten, as he swallowed harshly around it.

after the laughter died, they stayed in silence. loki yet again had another question to ask, but he doesn’t know why he cared in the first place.

“did i offend you?”

the mortal gave him a confused look. 

“when i asked about you mortals not keeping out of each other’s business, you got upset,” loki clarified.

“oh.”

he stayed silent again, thinking over his answer and then replied, “i’ve always thought mortals were unique once, having being the only living beings in the whole universe. but after i got offered the chance to portray you in the movies, and learnt that there were once such things as norse myths where gods lived up to more than five thousand years, i felt...i don’t know, small?

“and whenever i filmed a clip where it was mentioned how mortals have a life-span that would end in the blink of an eye to you gods, it made me feel like nothing. of course i’m happy with my life, but then _actually_ knowing deities like you exist, i should have known you would say such a comment.”

loki stared at him openly for a moment, “you still haven’t answered my question, though,”

thomas turned around to face loki with his body, “loki, you just came here and confirmed that norse gods are real, i wouldn’t be surprised if you said that all of you have spoken ill of mortals. i don’t know what it is that made you speak of us like this. perhaps it’s your version of midgard that did something to get on your nerves, but i can assure you, that while... ‘mortals’ having a short life-span, we’re smart and have our worth.”

oh. 

the mo- _thomas_ felt small compared to gods. which was true, but, being constantly reminded and letting go of it as knowing it was only a ‘myth’ or ‘entertainment’ and having a living and walking evidence? pretty much a dick move from their side.

and loki got the idea why the- _thomas_ wasn’t keen on seeing in public with him. how weird would it be, seeing an actor with the norse god from the myths and movies walking out with him who also happens the be exactly like him in looks that they could have been mistaken for brothers if not for their famous identities?

loki opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened again, “i apologise. i did not know it would hurt your feelings,” loki quietly admitted. not that he cared about the m- _thomas, by the norns,_ but-

he doesn’t know what it is. 

_thomas_ smiled genuinely, but didn’t reply. loki turned back away (when did he turn to face thomas?), and thought of another thing.

“about your... ‘movies’, where can see them?”

loki saw thomas flinch from the corner of his eyes. he frowned.

“well, definitely not now, it’s quite late, but, perhaps the next night, maybe even if sleipnir went to bed earlier, you’d be able to finish them all in one night,” he replied without facing loki.

“i’d suggest if sleipnir didn’t join, though,”

“why not?”

thomas winced, “it won’t be a pretty sight,” 

loki’s frown deepened. they sat in silence for a few long minutes before thomas spoke, “i’ll have to go bed now, it’s late.” 

loki nodded, also leaving with tom and both climbing up the stairs. 

thomas bid him goodnight, which loki returned before they closed the doors behind themselves. loki went to bed and felt what little energy he had drain.

loki went to sleep with his heart feeling light, a strange sensation he only felt around sigyn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates will be irregular, i do not have a schedule and i have exams coming up and with me being part-time editor on another platform, it will be difficult. i will try my best, though! :)
> 
> please leave kudos and a comment, if you want <3


	3. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> loki is introduced to shakespeare and watches the movies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!: i heavily edited the first two chapters; added a paragraph in the first and actually searched up something on norse myth and found out that sleipnir calls loki ‘mother’, not ‘father’, so, apologies for that mistake! i fixed it now :). make sure to re-read the first chapter, at least where i added the new paragraph!
> 
> unbeta-ed! mistakes belong to me :) i’ll try to correct them <3

loki woke up the next day to find the space where sleipnir was sleeping empty, and a smell coming from downstairs. he stretched, but aborted the action as soon as the wounds underneath his bandages stung. wincing, he got up, used the bathroom to relieve his bladder (he tried in vain not to think about it) and wash his face.

he walked out and downstairs, found thomas in the kitchen and when he looked to the right, sleipnir was feeding the dog in the garden. thomas noticed him enter the kitchen, and slightly startled him, “good morn- well, i suppose it’s a bit late for morning now. good afternoon!”

loki rubbed his eyes and replied back, “evening afternoon, thomas.”

a few minutes late, ‘breakfast’ was served, thomas calling sleipnir in to eat and the boy coming in running with a wide grin. they sat at the table, loki eating in silence as he listened to thomas answer sleipnir’s questions and talked about himself. sleipnir would giggle at any joke thomas would say, and loki would feel a small smile tug at his lips whenever he heard his son laugh.

after breakfast, loki helped thomas clean up while sleipnir ran back outside to bobby. he has to get a handle on the hyper energetic boy. 

“hey, are you alright?” thomas asked quite sudfenly, taking loki a back.

“hm? oh, oh yes, i’m fine. why?”

“you’re being quite- not that you have to talk, you can be quite, i- oh, fuck, sorry, i didn’t mean it like that,” he flushed.

loki smirked at that and stayed quiet, handing dishes to thomas. when he apparently had gotten ahold of himself, he spoke out again, “i was just checking in on you,” he said quietly. loki halted in his movements, but quickly recovered. 

what was he supposed to say to that. no one ever checked on him, and sigyn stopped altogether, with seeing his state. “i-”

he _what_ , now?

“thank you,” he replied, barely audible, but hoped thomas heard it because he didn’t know if he could say it louder. him seeing thomas smile from the corner of his eyes confirmed that he heard loki.

when they were done, loki went to the garden and sat while thomas went into his study room to finish some work he has. not a few minutes later, their host returned and handed loki a book. loki accepted it with a frown.

“it’s something that you can pass your time with. it’s not much, but i can try to find something else for you.” 

loki ran his fingers over the words embedded on the thick brown cover of the heavy book. ‘willaim shakespeare’ was imprinted in large bold letters, and the word ‘works’ was written below it in small italics.

loki opened the first page, reading a few lines and decided perhaps he could enjoy it. he offered a smile to thomas and thanked him. the human smiled back, eyes delightful and turned back around to finish his work.

—————————————————

it was late in the evening and loki was halfway through the book. he was impressed. perhaps not all mortals were idiotic, some obviously had talents, and the evidence was right between his hands. and to find someone talented in the field of the old english language and field of poems, yeah, it was not so bad.

sleipnir had ran in while loki cloki closed the book and entered the kitchen to see their late lunch being served.

loki was quiet as he heard sleipnir talk about how bobby was being a ‘good boy’ (he does not know where his son picked up that phrase) and that they were bestfriends and they loved each other endlessly. loki’s heart ached.

“sir thomas?”

thomas hummed, looking and giving sleipnir his full attention. 

“can we go for a walk one day with bobby? i would logr to see your city!” 

loki froze mid-bite, seeing from the corner of his eyes thomas’ own eyes widening. 

he managed to swallow the bite quickly without choking and hissed, “sleipnir!”

the boy deflated, but thomas quickly recivered from his shock at the question, “it’s okay! we can, of course! but with your mothers permission only, first.”

the boy grinned and turned to loki, “please, mother?” he pouted. loki stared back into the similar green eyes, and sighed. 

“we do not want to cause more trouble than we already are.”

“trouble- what are you talking about? you have been anything but trouble!” thomas exclaimed. loki sighed again. 

“please, mother! please!”

loki looked at his son’s desperate expression. he looked back down to his plate and nodded his agreement. 

the boy shouted in excitement, and thomas laughed, ruffling the boy’s hair. 

“but, keep in mind, we will have to wait for your mother to get better so we can all go out together at once.”

“that’s alright. as long as we can go out, i can wait!” sleipnir grinned. thomas smiled, urged the young boy ti continue eating as they returned to their meals.

after they were done, loki helped thomas again as his son ran out into the garden to feed the dog. thomas was drying his hands on a towel when he mentioned he needed to check on his wounds. 

“why? they are not bothering me.”

“they will get itchy and disturb they healing process. plus, the dried blood is better cleaned and the bandages should be changed daily if you want it to heal without getting infected. 

loki sighed and nodded, going to the living room and sitting on the couch, thomas returning a few moments layer with a bowl filled with warm water, clean, new bandages and tissues. 

they were quite as thomas took off the old dirtied bandages, disposing of them in a trash can near them. he cleaned the dried blood around the wounds, and loki saw improvements on the wounds. the were barely starting to stitch back, and the bruises slightly healed, too. loki felt his seiðr returning to him, a slow process, but they were getting there. 

when they were done, thomas picked up their used materials and smiled, “you’re good to go.” he turned around and into the kitchen. loki sighed, followed right in and picked up the book he had been reading from where he left it on the counter. loki went out into the garden, sitting on the same chair he sat on yesterday, and continued his reading.

loki didn't know much time had passed, he was so focused he didn't notice the sound of sleipnir running back into the house with the dog running behind him. it was well into the night when thomas' head peeked out from the french doors on the other side. 

"loki?"

loki blinked, closing the book that he was done with now and looked up to thomas, humming to let him know he is paying attention. 

"sleipnir went to bed. he fell asleep on the couch watching telly with me, and to moved him to your bed", he shrugged.

loki didn't dare to focus on how thomas had said _your_ bed instead of _the_ bed, or the guestroom's bed. 

he thanked thomas, and entered the house as the human shut them. loki walked to the living room and looked on the clock on the wall.

 _9:02_

he turned around when he heard thomas clearing his throat. "will you be going to bed now or..?"

loki wanted to see the movies, since especially sleipnir was fast asleep, and he wasn't really tired.

"if you have not a problem, i'd like to watch the 'movies' now," he replied. thomas nodded, went to bring something from upstairs and returned to see loki sat on the couch, making himself comfortable. after thomas was done putting on the first movie, loki sat straight and listened intently to everything.

—————————————————

it was two in the morning when they finished watching the movies in which loki had appeared (including one movie where he _didn't_ appear, but he had a role in it.) 

(thomas had also mentioned most movies were not important as they did not necessarily connect.) 

(loki also thought he heard something in the middle of their binge watching.)

when thomas turned off the telly, he looked at loki hesitantly and expectantly, as if expecting him to rage about how they dared to portray him like that. loki didn't look at thomas right away, staring off into the distance.

of course this alternate version of himself would be portrayed as a villain. why wouldn't they? 

loki barely managed to hide his flinch when he saw the other loki confronting loki, but thomas did nothing to conceal his wince. 

it wasn't the only scene where he flinched.

loki was anguished when his other self was practically limping through the whole movie where he attacked a city, and he didn't bother hiding his wince when odin rejected him. but loki was also amazed how thomas could show his emotions when he was captured. the vulnerability on his face made him shudder.

loki guessed it was safe to say his alternate self was as pathetic as he is now. 

but what made loki's blood boil was how his children were portrayed.

 _hel_ (and they even got it wrong. it's hel, not _hela_ ) _and fenrir brought about ragnarök while **he** saved the nine realms alongside thor?_

what nonsense! 

he was supposed to bring forth ragnarök with this children, and perhaps, in another universe that was what happened. but here? he wasn't that loki, he wanted to prove the aesir wrong, and protect his children and sigyn.

but, apart from that, there was so many wrongs. freyja didn't care for him like the way she did in the films. thor didn't trust him from the begining or have a friendly relationship with him like he did in the movies. 

"i'm sorry you had to see that," the human murmured, "i can't say i know you, at least not this version of you," he motioned towards him, "but, possibly every version of you would have been shown around like that. to me you aren't evil, or a villain or whatever anyone thinks. i think you are misunderstood, and..."

loki understood what he wanted to say.

"what makes you think i'm not evil? i was supposed to bring forth ragnarök, not help save asgard and the realms."

"maybe, but really, _what_ would make you bring ragnarök?"

and loki actually thought about that. thomas shifted closer, being careful of keeping their distance, "i have tried to read as much as i can about the myths. you didn't deserve any of that," he said softly, "you're just like the other one in the films," he motioned to the turned off tv, "you were playing unharmful jokes on people, because it's what you are made for. people not appreciating that is a fault from them, not you. they drove you like this, to bring forth ragnarök,"

loki couldn't bear hearing those words. he never heard anyone say that to him, and they felt so foreign. they weren't directed at him, was it? thomas was just talking about the other version of himself. he hoped.

"you forgot to mention that it also brought a..;chitauri' invasion to a city," he tried going for a joke, succeeding in not letting his voice waver.

"it wasn't you,"

he furrowed his eyebrows, "what?"

"it wasn’t you who brought forth the invasion,"

"what ever does that mean?" 

"you weren't in control of yourself. the actual villain, thanos, was the one behind it. he mind controlled you and forced you to attack a city. you’re guilty. it’s also why you surrendered, to, you know, be safe from him in the dungeons. it was also his ship at the end of the last movie.” thomas said sheepishly.

he decided to ignore the last part (is there any universe where his fate isn’t death?) and loki remembered seeing the scarlet witch mind controlling the team of heroes, too, but she got _pardoned_.

of course no one listened to his side of story.

“how is that?”

“you didn’t notice? where’d the army come from? and your way of speech isn’t what you normally say. plus the change in eye color,” he answered helpfully. 

did the mortal pay attention to all of that or was he informed? 

“has it been confirmed?”

“no. not yet, but i caught on to them.”

well then. 

loki’s throat tightened, and he tried to swallow but only managed to shakily exhale. all he could give as an answer to the human was a nod, looking away again.

by the norns, what has happened to him? 

“loki,” he turned to face the human, “it’s not you, alright? you’re _you_ , your path is not the same as any other version out there. perhaps, there’s another version who brings forth ragnarök, which the gods deserve, but _you_ proved them wrong. the loki on the tv? he’s just a character. if he’s actually out there, then i wish him my best of luck. but you can’t let other paths of fate or let the past control you. you’re free and safe here from whatever it is that wants to harm you,”

yeah, loki had to leave or he will break down right here, right now.

he nodded again, “thank you, thomas,” he bit his lip. was that what he was supposed to say only? 

“for everything you have done. helping me and sheltering and feeding me and my son, it is a service i will not forget.” he offered a smile. thomas smiled back.

“your performance was magnificent, too. i like how you portrayed and showed the emotions.” this time, however, thomas openly blushed. 

“i only did what i had to, to show who you really are,” 

and loki smiled genuinely at that. someone after all actually cared about him, and they weren’t a part of his family. loki knew he was getting into trouble by warming up to him or giving the human a chance to trust him, or vice versa. but loki couldn’t help it. 

norns, help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really don’t like this chapter :( it’s quite rushed and i got lost in what to write for the ending. pardon me :(
> 
> hopefully, the next chapters would be better! i’m planning to keep this short, so expect a huge time skip next chapter. and more time skips ;) 
> 
> anyways, if you liked it please leave kudos and a comment, if you want! <3  
> \- aurora x


	4. chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> loki decides whether he leaves or stays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates will be not frequent as i have exams coming up, sorry about that :(
> 
> unbeta-ed! mistakes are on me, i’ll try to fix any i find :)

the next day, loki had woken up to see sleipnir’s side on the bed empty. it was unusual, since loki woke up first. when he saw his son, the boy seemed... _gloomy_. loki didn’t know why, or what caused his happiness all of a sudden to die out. the boy would put on a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and wave off the questions loki had asked.

they continued the day per usual, and sleipnir seemed to forget about what was bothering him. that, or the boy was good in hiding his feelings. 

and as the days passed on, loki had gotten used in living with the human, and even started opening up, sometimes talking about his tales that thomas seemed eager to know about. loki always had this fluttery feeling whenever thomas asked him to tell him something about him, or whenever he was listening intently when loki looked at him as he spoke. the human always payed attention, even when loki ranted on and on about his seiðr.

loki had started getting better and better, and with the amounts of sleep, the bruises under his eyes and all over his body had healed away. even the cuts and wounds were near done healing fully, and his seiðr had almost fully returned to him, giving back most of his energy and he did not look sickly pale again. 

on the tenth day of his stay, loki was able to go out with thomas and sleipnir as promised. the actor had a day off, and was dressing heavily because for one, the winter was harsh and for two, he didn’t want anyone to recognise him. loki had agreed to dress midgardian clothes, since thomas insisted as his asgardian attire was not ‘suitable’ as clothes for an everyday life, and was forced to wear a scarf covering his nose and mouth while the actor wore a winter cap and a pair of glasses over his face. 

sleipnir was full of mirth, holding the leash that connected to bobby’s collar as the dog walked around here and there in his happiness, too, barking occasionally. they went to the park in london, both adults sitting on a bench in front of a pond while bobby ran around with the boy. 

at some point while tom and loki were talking, a flock of ducks came swimming near the edge. upon hearing thomas call him, sleipnir ran to see the ducks, and grinned. thomas had anticipated this would happen, and brought along a piece of bread, which he told sleipnir exactly what to do with it to the ducks. 

loki smiled as he watched his son tear pieces of bread and throw it in the water, laughing when all the ducks gathered around it and fought to eat it first. the boy had been merciful, tearing the whole piece of bread into smaller ones, gathered them in his small cupped hands, and threw it all at once into the water. he laughed again as the bread spread around the water and the ducks chased them. 

at the end of the day, thomas had ordered food for them and on their way back he picked up their order. they ate when they returned, sleipnir practically shouting how much fun he had. 

the boy had insisted after that to watch a movie (he was learning quite fast the midgardian terms, thanks to tom) with all of them gathered on the couch. sleipnir ended up sleeping halfway through, and when loki picked him up to put him to bed, thomas had offered he could come and continue to watch if he would not sleep. they ended up sitting close, a respectful distance between them. 

loki doesn’t remember falling asleep. 

he woke up with a sore neck, and his face burned hot upon noticing he had his head against thomas’ shoulders. loki apologised profusely, while tom assured him it was alright. sleipnir by that time was awake and watched the small incident. he had rolled his eyes and walked away hugging the small teddy bear tom had gotten him close to his chest, a knowing smile on his lips. 

the two weeks loki had promised were only enough for him to heal were over. loki didn’t want to leave, he felt safe here. he didn’t even know where he would go, he doesn’t remember what his plan was upon leaving asgard. but they needed to leave, they had already caused much nuisance and chaos, and thomas needed to focus on his work. 

thomas noticed the sadness evident on sleipnir’s face, and when he asked him, the boy broke out into quiet sobs. thomas picked him up into his embrace just as loki had entered the living room wearing his asgardian armour, and not the comfortable clothes he took to wearing in his stay. 

tom frowned, “where are you going?”

loki bit his lower lip, eyes drifting to where his son had his face hidden in thomas’ neck back to where thomas had a frown etched on his features, “i think that it is our cue to leave.”

“ _leave_? where to? why?”

loki sighed, “i said we would stay for two weeks at least until i heal, thomas. our stay has diverged your path of work and daily routine, i think it is enough of us now.”

tom stared, unbelieving what he was hearing. the thought of loki leaving made something inside him twist. he set sleipnir down, who clung to him, and he hushed him in reassurance, telling him to go run and see bobby. the boy sniffled and nodded, leaving the room to the two males. loki frowned. just what is this human doing? 

they stared at each other for a beat, before tom spoke, “you’re jesting, aren’t you?” 

loki frowned deeper. was this matter some kind of joke to the human? 

“i assure you, this is not a jest.” 

“why do you want to leave?”

loki opened his mouth to respond, only to close it again. why did he want to leave? he didn’t _want_ to, but he _had_ to. 

“thomas, i-” how does he say it? 

thomas took one step forward, “where will you even go to? there isn’t any other realm here, and going back to _your_ universe is a risk. even if you’re hidden from odin and heimdall’s gaze, it would be easier for them to search for you.”

damn this human. he was smart, and loki slightly regretted telling him everything. well, not _everything_.

loki stared, and watched as thomas walked closer, stopping when they were very close to each other, less than an arm’s length away. loki stared into the blue orbs of the human’s, and his heartbeat picked up when tom had grabbed his hands and clutched them in his. 

loki bit his bottom lip, watched the pink hue on the cheeks before him and tried to calm his breathing. he looked away, and prayed to the norns that thomas couldn’t hear his heartbeat.

“loki,” the human said softly, “look at me,” 

when loki refused, one hand left his and he felt it on his cheek. loki closed his eyes at the touch, quickly snapping them open when he realised what he has done and barely held himself from leaning into it. he felt the hand turning his head to face thomas. 

the human was smiling softly, “stay.” 

loki couldn’t help but stare again into the human’s eyes, watching for any signs that felt not right to what the mortal was saying. he found none. 

“but..”

“but what, loki?” 

loki bit the inside of his cheek before speaking, “i do not want to pressure you into thinking that you have to look after us and our needs. you have your own life to look after for, i do not want me and my son to be a burden.”

“you aren’t a burden. who told you that? loki, your stay here had made my life feel much more lighter, that finally i have some company and someone to care for and talk with. you have caused nothing of the negative sorts you think you did, i assure you. please, loki, _i_ want you to stay.”

and norns curse him, loki was in awe. when was the last time someone said that they enjoyed his company, or had made their lives much more brighter. not even sigyn had said that. 

“stay.”

and stay he did. loki couldn’t not stay, not after the human practically pleaded. loki was overwhelmed, he felt like he could cry tears of relief. someone was accepting him for who he was, and enjoyed the mischief he brought on about, and wanted him to not go. 

he tried to blink back the tears that threatened to spill, and nodded his head slowly. the soft, relieved smile he earned was worth it. 

he didn’t know how much time had passed with then staring into each other’s eyes, but the sound of someone clearing their throat pulled them out of their trance. 

“you two are disgustingly and sickeningly in love,” sleipnir made a face (which was still tear stained). 

the males blushed, and thomas quickly pulled away. loki got a hold of himself before grumbling out, “on second thoughts,” 

thomas laughed at that. loki could only smile helplessly. “i am going to regret this, am i not?” 

thomas patted his shoulder with a grin, “maybe.” loki rolled his eyes. oh, the _delight_ of midgardian terms he would hear coming from sleipnir. 

jokes aside it seemed, when sleipnir then asked them with a small voice, “are we still leaving?” 

loki looked down at him with a smile, and kneeled down to brush back sleipnir’s hair out of his eyes, “no. no we are not.” 

and the smile that spread on sleipnir’s face, eyes bright bright and teeth perfect in row, the boy hugged loki has he continuously thanked him.

at that moment, loki thought that maybe, just _maybe_ , his life was in perfect order. he looked at thomas from the corner of his eyes with a thankful smile, only to have it returned in a softer and wider one that made his heart beat unsteadily.

and he might have hopelessly fallen in love with the human. norns damn him. 

——————————————

loki was definitely and hopelessly in love with the human. 

he has been here for not more than two months, and already he has completely warmed up to his environments. the human went on about his day, going to work and the spending time with loki and even talking to him about his day. 

(he even told him how his co-workers had noticed he was in a much more higher spirits since loki had decided to stay)

loki felt much more of himself as days passed. his mischief-causing returned, like the one time he had rearranged the furniture in the living room, or hiding the keys just for fun to watch the human curse as he searched for them, or occasionally stealing thomas’ collection of shakespeare’s books that contained his poems (the mortal had a weird obsession with the man and his books, but loki couldn’t blame him. they were truly worth gaining his attention), and sometimes just any other normal book thomas owns. 

thomas had also asked loki to teach him some things from his culture, for example, norse runes. loki was surprised, and thomas had said it was probably nothing, just some runes that translated to the english letters. 

nonetheless, loki was happy to teach him. 

maybe because he wanted to spend time as much as he can beside thomas. not that he’d admit it ever.

and as for sleipnir, the boy was spoiled to no end. he was occasionally showered with gifts, but thomas had assured loki that he was taking care since he didn’t want him to become a ‘brat’ like how kids usually are these days. not that sleipnir is a brat or ever will be, thomas back peddled, since he had morals higher than even the children of a king and queen or president, but it was better to be safe than sorry. 

thomas taught the norse deities of technology, in which of course sleipnir caught up faster than loki, and thomas had gotten him a small ‘ipad’. loki had refused about this matter, and thomas giggled and assured him he would slow down from now on. he was still reluctant, but allowed it. 

at night, they would usually sit in the garden under than moonlight, sleipnir sitting on thomas’ lap while they listened to loki tell stories, or call out to his seiðr and make beautiful diagrams and shapes with it, his wrists flicking elegantly as a shape morphed into another, and sometimes he would even tell stories with his seiðr to play it out. 

loki didn’t want any of this to go for naught, but he almost felt like they were one happy family, and he wished to express it but held himself back. 

more days passed, and loki grew closer to thomas. it was apparent to everyone. they would seek each other out whenever they could, and spend time together as much as they could. 

they both had resolved to spend time out in the garden after sleipnir went to bed, since the boy would not stop teasing them with a shit-eating grin whenever he spotted them close to each other with barely space between them. 

loki didn’t mind it, though. 

he got to see thomas much more, and see the moonlight sharpen his features. and more than on one occasion had loki thought they would do something that crossed a line whenever they looked at each other from the positions on the ground, stuck together without space in between.

although that changed one night. 

they were out in the garden like usual, lying down beside the other on the ground while they spoke quietly. 

“what is it like to live on asgard?” thomas asked out of the blue. 

loki stayed quiet at that, and proceeded to reply, “depends on who you are and your position and title. most of the time asgardians would act out based on who they like and who they don’t. my case is an example.” 

loki stayed quiet to see if thomas had any questions, but when the human didn’t speak, loki continued, “if, of course you’re the king or queen, you’d be respected from almost everyone. the heir to the throne would be the most favourite, whether from the people or parents, the second would be discarded and forgotten,” loki bit his lip. 

“i’m not talking about myself only, although 'twas what had happened, but usually it’s how it worked on every other realm, like vanaheim or alfheim.”

“unlike us,” thomas murmured. 

loki hummed, “you usually tend to appreciate the younger prince or princess more, but they wouldn’t mind the throne being handed to the elder, nor would you. you don’t have an issue unless their rule is unfair, and you would demand in a change of ruler or rules, and if it is denied, sometimes other kings-slash-presidents would help,”

“sometimes they don’t. we would end uo having to wait for the ruler to either get killed or die, it’s how it works.”

“at least, you have rights to speak and voice your demands.” 

loki turned his head to look at thomas, who did the same upon noticing the action. 

“do you not have that? i mean, probably not, from what i’ve gathered about asgard from the movies, but maybe every asgard differs from the other.” 

“on asgard, the most liked individual of the royal family would rule, and almost no one would not have a problem with that. those who did, well, they either get ignored, executed or banished to where ever.”

thomas hummed, “it happens here, too, in some countries, but not a lot like the previous centuries. i feel bad whenever i think about how they used to live.” he stayed quiet for a moment, shrugged, and then spoke, “tell me exactly how was your life on asgard.”

loki tensed at that, and thomas sensed it, “that is, if you want to tell me, of course.”

it wasn’t that, loki thought, but he spoke, “it is fine, thomas. i.. i do not even know where to begin from.”

“take your time, i can wait,” he smiled softly. and loki felt reassured. he gathered his thoughts and spoke, telling thomas more than snippets of how his life as the god of mischief and lies and trickery was like on asgard, on how he was frowned upon and undesired by almost all as a king, or as anything else. 

and thomas would usually exclaim in anger or disgust directed towards the Æsir, and loki felt immense happiness that the human was on his side. he stayed truthful, not hiding or twisting the truth to seem as the victim, because in truth, loki had always been a victim, and anyone else that has been a victim to him either deserved it or it was a mere jest, that was not accepted either. 

“i’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”

“do not be sorry for something you are not in control of. my stay here on this midgard with you had made up for my years of emotional and mental abuse,” loki offered a smile. 

thomas smiled back, “yeah? how is that so?” and loki was so sure he saw the human’s eyes flick down to his lips. the thought of it made his heart flutter, and he stared deeply into the blue eyes. 

“like you allowing us into your residence and looking after us and our needs,” loki spoke quietly, slightly shifting closer to test the waters. the small shift on thomas’ end was enough to encourage him.

“and showing us around the city, or letting us stay here when i had no where to turn to,” with every word, his voice would get quieter until it was barely above a whisper, now flush against the other’s warm body. their faces were so close, loki could feel the warm breathes hitting his cheek. 

“yeah?”

“yes.”

“do you regret anything that has happened here?” thomas asked, leaning with his face closer.

“absolutely not. the best thing that i got out of this is i got to meet _you_ ,” loki’s eyes drooped, flicking down to the thin lips and he licked his own. 

just before his eyes fell close, he caught the sight of a warm smile before a hand on his cheek brought them closer and their lips touched. 

it was hesitant from loki’s end at first, but he got more confident and started to kiss, feeling giddy when thomas returned his kisses with a hint of desperation. the lips were soft and warm against his, unlike his cold lips. but thomas seemed to not mind, only pressing himself closer to loki.

they kiss started out soft and slow, but now as thomas pushed loki on his back and climbed on top of him, their kisses got more desperate and hotter. loki licked his tongue across the lips against his, and thomas opened willingly and welcomed loki into his embrace. their tongues brushed against one another, and the fight for dominance was won easily by loki, licking further into thomas’ mouth. 

he licked every crevice he could reach, his hands sliding up the human’s hips and sides and to his face, pulling him closer and relishing in the soft noises the human let out. the mage licked at the top of the human’s mouth, earning another soft noise.

they pulled back only merely for a second to take a breath before diving in again. loki took thomas’ bottom lip between his, kissing him with everything he had, pulling away and then repeating the action, over and over again as thomas did the same with his top lip. 

they kissed each other breathless, until loki had to pull away for the human, who only whined as their lips came apart. barely sucking in air, lips were on his again, kissing him feverishly and loki couldn’t help but chuckle. his hands slid into the soft brown hair, gripping the locks between his fingers firmly and tugging on them slightly. 

thomas hummed against his lips, his thumbs stroking loki’s cheekbones and he ground his hips against loki’s. the mage gasped, and thomas took the opportunity to slip his tongue in the warm (and cold at the same time thomas felt dizzy with the sensation) crevice and licking into his mouth. loki let out a noise, tugging a bit more firmly at the locks between his fingers and felt thomas smile and chuckle into his mouth. 

thomas pulled back slightly to press kisses to loki’s lips, giving special attention to his bottom lip which he then took between his teeth and bit down slightly, tugging back and letting it go. loki’s eyes fluttered, and his breath hitched as thomas’ lips trailed soft, wet kisses along his jaw and up to the back of his ear, taking his earlobe between his teeth and doing the same as he did with his bottom lip, tugging and letting go. 

they pulled away from each other, breathing heavily. loki opened his eyes to see thomas staring down at him with adoration and a smug smirk on his lips. loki groaned, “you’re a devil.”

thomas laughed, sliding down beside loki and cuddling into him, face hidden in his neck and arms wrapping around loki’s chest, a leg coming over to drape across loki’s. the mage smiled in content, sighing out heavily in relief and shifting to wrap his arms around thomas, closing his eyes and listening to thomas’ soft breathing.

“it was about time we made the move,” thomas chuckled a little breathlessly. 

loki only smiled wider, even though thomas couldn’t see, and squeezed his arms around the human, “yes. perhaps it was.” 

thomas only snuggled in further in his embrace, and loki let out another sigh through his nose. 

yes. loki felt like they were one happy family. 

perhaps everything was finally falling into place for both of them. maybe escaping asgard was the push loki needed to experience himself and others without someone at his neck, spying or disapproving. and for tom, perhaps this was the relationship that was meant for him, that this was what he should get and that’s why his past relationships were not working.

they would experience a few bumps from where they decide to go from here, but they would accept it all if it meant they got to be with each other. and perhaps things were not fine now even as they seemed they were, but they also knew they could make it work. 

but for now, they were content to lay together in the silence of the night in each other’s presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, this is certainly not the end! although it looks like an ending, fear not, there’s still more to come! 
> 
> perhaps a chapter or two more ;)
> 
> (most likely one)
> 
> if you liked it, anyways, please leave kudos and comment, if you want <3!
> 
> -aurora x


	5. chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay! i’m busy with studies but i’m almost finished with exams - on monday to be exact - so i hope i’ll have more time finish this! thanks for hanging on <3
> 
> unbeta-ed! any mistakes are on me!
> 
> \- aurora x

days continued to pass, and loki was sure it was safe to say he was feeling happier than he ever did.

sleipnir continued to tease him, and then run away laughing loudly when either he or thomas (mostly thomas) would chase him. thomas had barely tried separating himself from loki, though the mage wasn’t complaining.

something that worried loki though (which thomas tried reassuring him but loki could see he himself was starting to get concerned) is that sleipnir would spend most of the time be locked in their room, barely watching the telly which he enjoyed almost all of the time and wasn’t occasionally with bobby. loki tried shrugging it off, thomas’ words about kids these era being addicted to it and that he was just trying to learn technology, but still something felt off.

on an afternoon three weeks after thomas and him got together (officially), they were preparing lunch, while sleipnir was still in the room. the two adults had been fighting (jokingly) over something about being the correct ingredient, thomas already knowing he’ll have to grab his phone to prove loki wrong when—

“MOTHER!”

the scream made both men jump. loki’s eyes widened as he looked at thomas in shock before his senses came back to him. he left what he was holding on the counter, thomas doing the same, and dashed out of the kitchen to where his room was located.

loki barged in, his eyes searching frantically, “sleipnir?”

he found the boy in bed, crying. loki could feel his heartbeat picking up as he made his way and noticed the device thomas gifted him on the other side of the bed, the screen facing down. loki sat on the bed and took sleipnir into his arms, gently rocking them and hushing the whimpers. thomas quietly came around the bed and picked up the device.

“oh, jesus.” he grimaced upon seeing what sleipnir has been doing. loki turned his head, “what? what is it?” tom came to sit besides loki, showing him what was on the screen.

loki’s eyes widened as he read the paragraph, his guts twisting and throat tightening. sleipnir upon seeing the page in front of them, twisted away and his head into loki’s neck.

he’d been reading about the ‘wall of asgard’ incident.

“it isn’t the only thing he read,” thomas said with a grimace, switching the page to another tab that was already open to see other topics about myths the midgardians wrote.

“why did they say you liked it, mother? you didn’t, did you?” sleipnir whispered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. loki blinked, looking down to where his son was hiding, and then looked back at thomas, who have him a sympathetic look.

“no i...” what was he supposed to say as an answer to a boy this age? “no i did not, sleipnir. but that does not mean i regret having you,” loki’s voice wavered. he was struggling to speak.

tom noticed his distress as soon as loki trailed off, mouth opening and closing, trying to search for words. thomas rubbed his tense shoulder, snapping loki’s attention back to him, and he offered, “let me speak to him,” he said quietly, opening his arms to take sleipnir.

tom knew he should leave the matter to those who were involved in it, but seeing the distress and tension and confusion on loki, he knew he had to interfere. loki cast a confused glance, as if the meaning of the words he said weren’t making sense. after a moment, he gave sleipnir to thomas, and tom noticed how barely loki managed to hide his shaking arms.

tom carried sleipnir down the stairs and into the living room, settling him on the couch, only to crawl back into tom’s lap and hide into his neck, too. he tried soothing him, rubbing down his back in a calming manner.

“wh-why-,” sleipnir hiccuped, “why did they say this about mother? mother was forced into it.”

tom sighed, “not everyone knows what happened, sleipnir. everyone assumed your mother enjoyed it, but they didn’t get the victim’s side of the story, did they?”

“no, they didn’t. but whose side of the story did they get? that is right, the imbeciles of asgard’s side. why does everyone hate mother? why do they always make mother seem like the villain and cruel one?” he started crying again.

and, god, tom was hurt. the boy didn’t deserve to see this.

“i swear i did not mean this, but i may or may not have seen the movies you showed mother. you know, the one where mother was viewed as a villain.”

“it’s okay, sleipnir.”

“i just want to know what did mother do to receive all this hate. we- we didn’t start ragnarök, we proved the prophecy wrong. mother tried showing them that we don’t mean harm.”

tom knew he was mentioning his other siblings, too. “i know. believe me i do. but sometimes life is not fair, sleipnir. your father-” sleipnir tensed and tom winced, “ _svadilfari_ is a cruel man, but asgardians are even crueler. i’m sure i’m not allowed to say any of this, i’ll have to leave it to your mother. but believe me, your mother wanted nothing but to protect you. you were hidden of asgard’s tales because no one like you deserved to know of their cruelty. but one day, i believe, your mother will tell you everything.”

sleipnir was quiet for a moment. “what about the movies? why was mother the villain. why’d everyone blame mother for the attack or for anything in general?”

“your mother is misunderstood, always has been. no one tried getting his side of story. in the movies, he was trying to protect thor, but you saw how everyone gave up on him, even odin. but frigga was there for him. perhaps freyja wasn’t like who she is in the movies to your mother, but loki tried everything to keep you safe.”

another beat of silence. “does mother really not regret having me?” it was barely above a whisper.

tom, shocked at that, pulled sleipnir away to make the boy face him, “what kind of question is that, sleipnir? of course loki loves you. your mother loves you more than anything and more than anyone else. never doubt that.”

sleipnir sniffed, “it makes me mad just how everyone else see him,” more tears ran down his face, “just why is mother disliked by everyone and punished severely for something that wasn’t even harmful?”

“if there’s anything i know about your mother, it’s that he is strong. so strong for holding out for so long. people are cruel, they don’t try viewing anyone else’s side of story when one is already spread out. it works on here too, and i may have been acting out another version of your mother in the movies, but i got a taste of what loki feels and how he’s been treated. life’s just not fair, sleipnir. but it does not matter now, you’re here, on another version of earth, away from everyone else. you have your own life here, no one to judge or punish you. the past is in the past. no one might accept loki for who he is or his children, but you are magnificent. i accept you, shame on who doesn’t. remember this, okay? your mother is strong, and he loves you, so much.”

sleipnir nodded, tears brimming his eyes one more before launching himself into tom’s embrace. tom rubbed his back, trying to calm him down.

a few moments passed, and sleipnir still hasn’t calmed down but he spoke up, “mother,” it was in a broken voice, and tom ached.

the boy wriggled out of his grasp, and tom turned around to see loki at the bottom of the stairs, looking disheveled and hair messy, and tear tracks down his face.

sleipnir hugged around loki’s thighs, and the mage kneeled down to hug sleipnir properly. and for a long time they stayed like this, and tom was thinking how could no one ever think loki is a good man.

sleipnir was mumbling apologies, but loki shushed him. he pulled away after a while, and smiled tearfully at his son, “i promise i’ll tell you everything when you’re grown up.”

sleipnir only threw himself at loki again. the mage bit his lip to stop any sound from escaping, and his breath hitched and eyes clenched close when small hands combed through his messy hair.

it was after another long while that he pulled away, smiled at sleipnir and told him to go play out in the garden. sleipnir grinned, cheeks still wet, and loki smiled as he used his sleeves to wipe away the tear tracks. the boy turned around and bolted to the kitchen, opening the french door to go into the garden and called out for bobby.

loki stood up from where he was still on the ground, and stared off to where sleipnir left. the sound of footsteps snapped him out of his trance, and his smile wavered, lips trembling and sight blurring with tears gathering, barely making out the small smile thomas sent his way before arms were pulling him into a warm embrace, arms holding him securely.

loki broke down, letting out a sob as he leaned into thomas, hands clutching the back of his shirt and hiding his face in his shoulder. thomas shushed him, running his fingers down loki’s tangled hair and gently swayed them from side to side, the other arm running up and down his back, soothing him.

sobs wracked loki’s body, and he mumbled ‘thank you’ multiple times brokenly.

they’d moved to the couch, with loki slowly starting to calm down. the mage went silent, and tom would have panicked slightly if it wasn’t for the occasional soft hiccups. tom was still running his hands through loki’s hair, nails scarping his scalp to soothe any tension. 

loki, head on thomas’ chest, felt himself drifting off just listening to the soft breathing and steady heartbeat of his lover. his thoughts were starting to slow down, and eyes drooping. he didn’t want to sleep, he wanted to stay by sleipnir’s side, and thank thomas, but his mind and body were not giving him a choice. thomas noticed this, and shook loki’s shoulder softly, “loki? hey, loki, come on,” thomas got up and away from loki’s clutch, the mage barely suppressing a whine.when did he fall asleep? loki blinked up tiredly at him.

“come on, let’s get you to bed. you need the rest.” tom smiled softly, helping loki up and to his bedroom. they made it in once piece, loki’s heavy weight not (thankfully) crushing him and his insides as he was leaned on. tom tucked the trickster in bed, pulling the covers up and closing the curtains of the windows.

tom checked once more on loki, and was turning around to leave the door when a hand gripped his wrist. he turned around to see loki looking at him, green eyes practically glowing in the darkened room. 

“thank you.”

tom smiled, sat on the edge of the bed and put a lock of black hair behind loki’s ears that were on his face, “for what?”

“everything.”

tom’s eyes brightened and his smile widened, “i did nothing, really. i did what i deemed right.”

loki smiled softly at that, and tom leaned down to press his lips against loki’s temple, “get some sleep. you deserve it.”

he got up, giving loki one more smile before shutting the door softly on his way out. 

what a day already.

—————————————

loki had gotten up a few hours after that to see that thomas and sleipnir had had lunch, and were now sitting in the garden with the brown dog running towards a ball to fetch it. loki smiled softly at the sound of laughter from outside, sleipnir yelling happily to thomas about something and thomas laughing at him, as he rummaged through the refrigerator for leftovers to eat. 

he was well used to thomas’ house now, and he was treating himself as a resident who loved here long enough and not just for almost four months.

(loki argued that it wasn’t polite of him but thomas had insisted otherwise, telling him that loki doing just that made him fell happy that the mage was getting comfortable with him, and who was loki to deny his foolish human?)

after loki was done eating, he walked out to the backyard, spotting thomas on the garden floor leaned against the brown fence panel surrounding the garden. he made his way over, sitting down beside him and leaning back against the fence, watching sleipnir throw the ball up and then landing back down, bouncing off and away for the god to run and catch it. 

“how are you feeling?” thomas looked at loki with soft eyes.

loki hummed, “much better. i think i really needed the rest.” tom grinned at that. “i’m glad you’re feeling better.” tom said softly, and loki allowed a small smile to slip. 

the small boy continued to play as the male adults found interest in one of the books loki pulled from his pocket dimension, the trickster explaining it’s contents with a grin and the human listening intently with a grin of his own. 

tom did mention once how cool it’d be to have magic, that he’d like to feel it once (he even mentioned how unlucky a species they were to be the only realm with no magic, but loki told him the bright sight of this version of midgard being independent on it’s own, which started a whole new conversation.)

“wait, really?”

“yes. the fabric of your universe here shelters your realm from allowing any being to see what lurks outside of it. in other words, your ‘astronauts’ could not see beyond your galaxy, only imagining the amount of galaxies there are, therefore leading to think you’re the only form of life here. which is true, according to your universe. or not. i do not know, i haven’t known this version of midgard exists.”

“that is so cool although i think i’ll hold grudges against this universe from now on.”

“that will be just cruel.”

“oh?”

“it was just trying to protect you,” loki fake pouted at thomas, who grinned.

“and how is that? by making humans think for god-knows-how-many-years that we’re the only life form around. and at least not letting us know that there’s more than one universe. now that would have been cruel and dramatic.”

“how so?”

“come onnn, seven billion humans? in millions of stars and billions of galaxies? a bit too over-dramatic. i never believed we were alone here, it just doesn’t make any sense. i’m starting to think this universe was jealous, if you ask me.”

loki chuckled, “do you, now? just for hiding away other universes?”

tom’s eyes strayed away as if thinking his answer, which he already knew, “yeah?” he asked with a tone that was suggesting ‘is that even a question?’, “just think how cool it would be to have interacted with aliens probably thousands of years ago!”

“i think you should be grateful.” loki smirked.

tom rolled his eyes, “yeah, sure, because i’m not a norse god who lives in a universe that filters out other universes just for the spotlight.”

loki laughed at that, “come on, thomas, you’re just being childish and unfair. come to think of how this midgard stands proud on it’s own with no tree branch supporting it or any form of magic to protect you.”

thomas seemed to think about that, “well, maybe, yes-”

“aha!”

“-but! but still..”

“still?”

“i don’t even know if we’re special or not anymore?” thomas smiled sheepishly. 

“in a way, yes. but also no. you’re on a planet in a universe that stands alone with yggdrasil or it’s magic and that hides away the other universes _for your sake_ ,” loki narrowed his eyes at thomas who rolled his eyes again, “but at the same time, that foolish thought of ‘you being alone in the whole vast universe’ is a lie,”

thomas raised his eyebrows. loki sighed with a roll of his eyes, “to _other_ universes. i do not know, i haven’t looked thoroughly around here!” loki raised his hands in the air. tom smirked, which made loki narrow his eyes at him again, “wipe that smirk off your face,”

“or you’ll what?” the smirk got wider.

“thomas.” 

“loki.” thomas grinned. 

“are you mocking me?”

“now who said that?”

“no one did, but it seemed like it.”

“ouch, i’m hurt! why would you say that? i did no such thing!” tom faked a pout, one hand over his heart as if genuinely hurt. 

loki rolled his eyes, _again_ , “now you’re the one being dramatic.”

“you’re an arse.”

loki laughed, eyes slipping close to mere slits. tom smiled at that, his glare fading to a soft look. loki looked back at him, a wide grin on his face, “am i, now?”

“definitely.”

“i think you’re also being the cruel one.”

“i think you’re being a liar.”

“but am i not?”

“you will be considered one by me if you do not kiss me right now.”

loki hummed, tilting his head as if thinking and failing to stifle his laughter at tom’s betrayed face. 

“oh, fuck you.” tom huffed, turning away and loki laughed, turning tom back to him again, “thomas, darling, i’m not called a trickster for nothing,” loki girnned, eyes drooping closed as he pressed his lips to tom’s. the human hummed, one hand resting on the mage’s cheeks. 

“i still think you’re an arse.” tom mumbled against the lips. loki only smiled mischievously, kissing the human slowly. 

they don’t know how much time passed before someone had interrupted them with a ‘yuck!’. they pulled away, trying to catch their breaths as they looked at sleipnir, who had a disgusted look on his face, “gross!”

tom’s cheeks heated up as he chuckled, loki always chuckling quietly. 

“sorry, your _highness_.” tom gave the young boy a (jokingly) pointed look. 

sleipnir waved them off with a hand, “just get a room, i’m still young for this.

they stared as sleipnir called for bobby. loki was first to break the silence, “now, would you look at that?”

“yeah. earth definitely was a poor choice for him to learn new things.” 

loki chuckled, “your species never fail to amaze me. just how fast are youngsters learning terms as such nowadays?”

“you don’t wanna know.”

—————————————

night found them getting ready to retire for the day already, all events of the afternoon thrown out of the window. thomas had said he had some work to finish and then he’ll go to bed, and loki had went to his own room to sleep with sleipnir in his arms. 

sleep didn’t come easily.

loki didn’t know how much time passed, but eventually drifted off after a period of time. 

but it couldn’t have been more than two hours when loki violently woke up with a gasp, hair sticking to his sweaty forehead and wet cheeks. he panted harshly, not realising the tears that ran down his face and got up, tucking sleipnir in more securely and quietly left the room.

he found himself in the kitchen, leaning against the island with his back to the entrance of the kitchen, his hands over his mouth to muffle his sobs. his shoulders shook, his eyes closed tightly and more tears slipped down his face. 

he was a mess.

he didn’t know what the time was, but it didn’t matter. it wasn’t like loki never had nightmares before, they were his friends since he was a child, but this nightmare was different. it was the cave incident, and it was vivid, like loki was going through it all again. 

norns, he was broken.

loki knew that meant something, but he wasn’t in the right mind to think what it meant. he knew he just missed both his sons and he wanted to hit himself for not doing anything to save his other children. he pressed his hands harder to his mouth to prevent from the loud cry that wanted to escape. 

a sound behind him alerted loki. 

his eyes widened and he quickly tried to secretively wipe away his wet face, tame down his wild and messy hair, but there was no way he couldn’t appear as anything else as a god weeping.

“loki?”

it was thomas, his soft voice showing concern. why was he still awake? loki wanted to punch himself. he took a deep breath after forcing the tears to stop, closed his eyes and responded although he did’t trust his voice.

“yes?” his voice cracked. well, shit. so much for not giving away his crying.

the sound of footsteps walking closer made loki tense up. he stared at the floor with his head down when tom stood in front of him. a gentle hand held his chin and brought his head up and loki refused to look at thomas. 

“look at me.” it wasn’t demanding, but loki couldn’t help himself but to obey. green met blue, and loki couldn’t keep it in anymore. he broke down, a sob breaking free and then he was engulfed in a warm embrace, an arm around the small of his back and the other on the back of his neck and holding his face down into tom’s neck. 

loki’s arms wrapped around the other body, fingers clutching at the back of the shirt with a death grip that his knuckles went white. loki couldn’t help hold himself back anymore, he cried and muffled his cries against tom’s neck, the fingers running through his tangled hair comforting him a little. 

he didn’t yet again know how much time passed, but after a long while, he started calming down. his sobs died down, having no more water in him to let out tears and only able to gasp breaths. his fingers loosened, but still gripped the fabric of tom’s shirt, and hiccups escaped his mouth and his breath hitched.

tom pulled away, holding loki’s face in both hands and running his thumbs over loki’s cheekbones, leaning in and softly pressing his lips to them and his forehead. another tear escaped his eye, and he closed them to try and get a hold of himself. they sat in silence, tom caressing the side of his face and occasionally murmering sweet nothings into loki’s hair.

“i had a nightmare about them.” he whispered quietly.

tom frowned, “about who?”

“vali and narvi.”

tom wasn’t by any means unfamiliar with those two, he read enough to know who the were. loki’s children.

(tom felt ashamed that this was only what he knew about them.)

“what was it about?”

“what happened back in the cave.” tom winced. _what had happened to them?_

sure, tom knew about the cave incident, but he doesn’t recall coming across a paragraph that mentioned narvi and vali in them. 

“i’m sorry- i don’t- i don’t recall-” he spluttered, and grimaced when loki pulled away and told him it was fine. he knew tom didn’t know, and he didn’t bother bringing it up, but now he felt like telling thomas everything.

and so he did. and loki had a hard time composing himself, a couple of tears escaping his eyes and voice wavering. and thomas’ reactions of disgust the Æsir made him feel a little but better. 

“jesus, loki, i’m so sorry. you didn’t deserve any of this.” tom voiced, taking loki into his arms when the mage’s breathes started hitching again. he petted his hair, and whispered reassuring words to loki, and the trickster couldn’t help crying softly again. he clinged to tom, whispering over and over again how he missed narvi and vali, that he’d do _anything_ to see them one more time. 

another few minutes passes when loki started feeling exhaustion, and tom had his chin resting on top of his head while he held loki. the human noticed the silence that started to take over, and loki’s form getting heavier on him. 

when they made it to the room where loki slept, tom noticed his distressed face. “you could come and sleep with me, you know?” 

a moment passed and tom noticed what he had said. 

“oh. no- wait, i _didn’t_ mean it like that- jesus, sorry i-”

loki cut him off with a humourless chuckle, “i understand what you mean, thomas,” he looked down, avoiding eye contact, “i...i’d like that, if you may.” 

“of course!” tom grinned, but loki frowned, “i do not want to leave sleipnir alone...”

“carry him with us then. the guest room bed won’t fit us three, mine’s bigger and there’d be plenty of space.” 

loki smiled and nodded, going to his room and carrying sleipnir in his arms, and following thomas to his room. sleipnir ended sleeping in between them, the two adults facing each other and falling into a peaceful sleep lacking nightmares. 

loki knew it wasn’t the end, that there’s more to this, but he’ll be ready with time to face it; both, his nightmares and whatever that threatens the safety of his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don’t really like this chapter -especially the dialogue- but whatever ^.^  
> but hopefully the next chapter would be better, and probably the last. who knows.
> 
> if you enjoyed, please leave kudos and a comment, if you want! 
> 
> \- aurora x

**Author's Note:**

> not beta-ed! i’m quite sleep deprived so i’m sorry in advance for any mistakes! :) i hope you enjoyed! please leave kudos and comment, if you want to! <3


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